Loom



l. W. NOYES LO OM Filed Sept. 2, l952 2 Sheet's--Sheerl l INVENTOR.

WIT/V555o i. W. NGN/E5 LOOM Filed Sept. 2, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

/EA M //m/E9 CL m/ 1cm/Jn Com/ENQ l Kif ATTORNEY.

Patented May 2, 1933 IRA W. NOYES, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER CORPORATION, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION F MAINE LOOM Application filed September 2, 1932.

The present invention relates to looms, and more particularly to a novel means for preventing shock and jar to the loom when the lay is suddenly stopped through the usual protection mechanism.

The protection mechanism as ordinarily constructed, includes a protection rod controlled by fingers mounted to bear against the binders in the shuttle boxes, daggers carried by the protection rod for engagement with frogs carried by the loom frame7 such engagement taking place to forcibly stop the lay when the shuttle fails to properly enter the boX, and suitable means for disconnecting the driving power when the protection mechanism operates. When the daggers strike the frogs the inertia of all the rotating and reciprocating parts is absorbed and the parts almost instantaneously brought to rest, resulting in the imposition of stresses, particularly on the lay-swords, pitman, crank-shaft and frame work of the loom, far in excess of the load which the parts are normally required to carry.

Of course, when the protection mechanism operates it must stop the lay suddenly, in order to prevent damage to the machine or the warp, but the rest of the parts might just as well over-run the lay to permit of their being stopped more slowly. Several attempts have been made to devise mechanism for permitting the over-running of the various parts, but. insofar as I am aware, they have met with but a modicum of success at best.

I propose to accomplish this desirable end by providing specially constructed pitmen, for driving the lay, which are normally rigid but which are capable of buckling when the lay is stopped by the protection mechanism, thereby permit-ting the crank-shaft and connected parts to over-run the lay until stopped by the usual brake.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a loom embodying my invention, certain parts hav'- ing been omitted for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in a different operative rela- 50 tion; and

Serial No. 631,542.

Fig. 3 isa longitudinal sectional view` through one of the pitmen.

The lay 1 is mounted in the customary manner upon lay-swords, only the right hand lay-sword 2 being shown, for reciprocation on a rocker shaft (not shown) supported i from the usual loom frame 3. The lay carries a shuttle box at each end thereof, as for eX- ample right hand shuttle bcX l shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The loom is also provided with a conventional form of protection mechanism, constituted by a protector rod 5 supporting linger 6 and dagger 7 The nger 6 bears against a binder (not shown) in the shuttle box and, should the shuttle be not properly boxed the dagger will remain in a lowered position where it will, as the lay beats up, engage frog 8 to forcibly and suddenly stop the lay. Suitable connections are also usually provided for disconnecting a clutch and applying a brake when the protection mechanism operates.

I have not illustrated the clutch, brake and other component parts of the loom as many suitable constructions arc now well knownin the art and they constitute no part of the present invention.

The lay is reciprocated toward and from the front of the loom by a crankshaft 9 rotating in the direction of the arrows, Figs.. 1 and 2, and connected with the lay by means of pitmen, to be hereinafter -more fully Idescribed. The crank-shaft, which is journalled in theDloom-sides in the usual manner, is provided intermediate its ends with two L cranks similar to 10 having crank pins, as 11, for cooperation with two pitmen, only one crank, pin and pitman being illustrated as they are in all respects duplicates.

The pitman, indicated generally at.12, is 33' comprised of separate parts or members,V the present construction including two such members. The rear member 13 consists of an elongated body, preferably of cast-iron, connected with the crank-shaft by lmeans of 5 a split bronze bearing` 14 retained in place by metal strap 15 which is, in turn, secured to the member 13 by bolts 16, 17 and 18. The bearing 14 cooperates with the pin 11 formed in crank 10.

The front member 19 of the pitman is pivotally connected with the lay, for driving the latter'. To this end, the member 19 carries at its forward end a cylindrical bronze bushing 2O retained in place by a metal strap 21 bolted to the cast-iron body portion of the member by means of bolts 22, 23 and 24. The bushing 20 engages a pin 25 secured in the portion 26 of the lay-sword 2 where the latter is fixed to the lay.

The two members 13 and 19 of the pitman are pivoted together by means of a pin 27 which is fixed in the rear member 13 by means of a set screw 28 and rotates freely in bearing apertures in ears 29 formed on the rearward end of the member 19. The members are normally held in axial alignment, to prevent relative movement about the axis of pin 27. When the members 13, 19 are axially aligned stop shoulder 30 on member 13 is in Contact with the end face 31 of member 19, and they are so held by means of a coil spring 32 having one end engaged in an aperture 33 formed in a lug on member 19 and its other end engaged in an aperture in a clamp 34 secured to sword 2 as by means of a bolt 35. The

clamp 34 may be moved up or down on thev sword to adjust the tension of the spring32. y

The pitman as thus far described forms a rigid driving connection between the crankshaft and the lay. However, I have provided means for releasing such connection by moving the members 13, 19 out of alignment at a predetermined point on each forward beat of the lay, i. e. just before the time for the protection mechanism to operate if the shuttle is improperly boxed. This may be conveniently accomplished by limiting the angular movement of member 19 inone direction about its pivotal connection 25, 26 with the sword.

The particular form of limiting means herein disclosed is constituted by a lug 36 on member 19, adapted to engage the head of a stop-screw 37 threaded into a bracket 38 secured to the sword by means of a bolt 39. The stop-screw may be vertically adjusted relative to lug 36 and locked in adjusted position by means of a check-nut 40. The screw should be adjusted so that its head will be contacted by the lug 36 (see Fig. 1) slightly before pin 11 of the crank reaches bottom center.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

The two members 13, 19 constituting the pitman are held in axial alignment throughout more than three-quarters of each revolution of the crank-shaft. However, each time the crank approaches bottom center (Fig. 1) on the forward beat of the lay lug 36 on member 19 will contact the head of stopscrew 37, thus preventing further angular movement of the member 19 about pin 25, in a counter-clockwise direction. Continued movement of the crank-pin from the position shown in Fig. 1 to bottom center will result in member 13 pivoting about pin 27, while the member 19 moves only axially, and the members 13 and 19 will no longer be in axial alignment. In other words, when the crankpin 11 is at bottom center pin 27 will be above a line drawn through the centers of pin 25 and crank-pin 11, and the pitman will be slightly buckled.

Should the shuttle be properly boxed when the crank-pin is at bottom center, dagger 7 will be lifted above frog 8 and th-e protection mechanismwill not operate. Continued movement of the crank-pin will, of course, raise the rearward end of member 13 until the latter is again in alignment with member 19, thus again establishing the rigid driving connection necessary to properly beat-in the filling.

On the other hand, should the shuttle not be properly boxed when the crank-pin is at bottom center, dagger 7 will engage frog 8 and immediately stop the lay. It is noted at this time that engagement of the frog by the daggeroperates to release a clutch and apply a brake (not shown). However, no known braking system operates quickly Venough to stop the loom instantaneously and accordingly, the inertia of the crank-shaft and other parts tends to cause them to continue in motion until stopped by the brake.

This, my construction permits them to do, as contradistinguished from the solid pitman fconstruction wherein the inertia of all of the moving parts of the loom must be absorbed by the n protection mechanism. Since the protection mechanism operates when the members 13, 19` are buckled slightly, the over-running of the crank-shaft is not resisted by the pitman, except for the comparatively negligible force due to spring 32, and the protection mechanism is relieved of the major portion of its burden.v

The ordinary braking systems now in use will stop the loom when the parts are approximately in the position shown in Fig. 2.

It is to be understood that the disclosure herein of the preferred form of my invention is for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation, the true scope of the invention being defined in the appended claims.

I claim: f

1. In a loom, the combination of a lay, a crank-shaft, 'a pitman connected with the crank-shaft and with the lay for reciprocating the latter, said pitman including pivoted. members normally in axial alignment, and

means for automatically moving said meme nected with the crank-shaft and with the lay v for reciprocating the latter, said pitman including members normally held against relative movement to thereby provide a rigid driving connection, and means carried by the sword for causing relative movement between the said members, to thereby release the said connection, at a predetermined pointon each forward beat of the lay.

3. In a loom, the combination of a lay and its lay-sword, a crankshaft, a pitman connected with the crank-shaft and with the lay for reciprocating the latter, said pitman including pivoted members normally held in axial alignment, and means including a fixed stop carried by the sword for automatically moving said members out of alignment at a predetermined point on each forward beat of the lay.

IRA W. NOYES. 

